Improvement in revolving f



n. B wEssoN, Revolving Fire-Arms.

i 136,348. Palrenfed Fb. 25,1873.

5 Y 1mm 11h13,

UNITED STATES PATENT Trice.

DANIEL B. WESSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

{MPROVEMENT IN REVGLVING FIRE-ARNS.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, DANIEL B. WnssoN, of Springiield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Revolving Fire- Arms 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making a pa-rt of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure l is a side view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view, showing the rear part of the frame unlocked from theloarrel, and turned to one side and downward to extract the shells. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the middle of the frame, showing the method of jointingorpivotingthat part ofthe frame which extends beneath the cylinder, and which operates the extractor, to that part located behind the cylinder. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section through the lower part of the frame, at line F of Fig. 3, showing a front view of the rear part of the frame, and the manner of piv otin g the two parts of the frame together. Fig. 5 is a front-end view of the part beneath the cylinder, showing also the toothed piece which operates the extractor. Fig. 6 is a side view of a portion of the frame, showing the device for locking the barrel to the frame 5 and Fig. 7 is a rear view of the same.

My inventionrelates to that class ofrevolvin g ire-arrnsin which a chambered cylinder is used to contain the charges, which cylinder is made to revolve upon its bearin gat therear of the barrel, so that at each discharge the axis oi' one of the chambers of the cylinder is brought into a A direct line with that of the barrel, and in which the barrel is locked to the frame or rear part oi' the arm whenever it is to be discharged, and is detached therefrom or unlocked whenever the cartridges are to be inserted into the chambers or the empty shells extracted there from; and my invention consists of devices, hereinafter described, wherebyI am enabled to expose the rear end of the cylinder and operate the extractor by apositive movement in both directions.

That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawing, A is the rear part of the frame, which, as shown in Fig. 4, is recessed at d, which recess is made ot' suicient size to receive the ratchet projection d', and 1s made upon the arc of a circle concentric with the screw h as a center, so that when the frame A is up in place at the rear ofthe extractor and its ratchet projection d, as shown in Fig. 3, said frame A maybe turned to one side upon the screw h as a pivot, allowing the face ofthe frame A to pass by the ratchet d. The lower part otl the face ofthe frameA is recessed also to a depth sufficient to receive the piece a upon the rear end ofthe frame A', as shown in Fig. 3, and the upper part of this recess formsa shoulder, which upon one side oi' the frame 1s made upon the arc of a circle, of which the screw h is the center, as shown at a?, and upon the other side ot' the frame the shoulder is str. ight and horizontal, as shown at al in Fig. 4, and the part a upon the rear end of the trame A is formed to correspond with the shoulder of said recessed part of the frame A.

The frame A, which extends beneath the cylinder D, has a hole extending through its length, into which is inserted a screw, It, and the frame A has a threaded hole, It', made therein, into which the screw L is turned, thus securing the part A to the part A, but in such manner that the frame A may be turned to one side, say, one-fourth of a revolution or more, the screw h being turned out otl the threaded hole h to that extent. The circular piece Z, having the teeth u made upon its periphery, is inserted in the joint G between the ears l', and is there secured by the pivot a', and the front end of the extractor-shaft m has the annular rings n made thereon, which engage with the teeth a on the piece l, so that it' the frame A were moved to one side, away from its posit-ion in rear ot' the extractor-platef, any downward movement of the frame Al would cause the extractor-shaft m. and extractor-plate f to be thrown backward. Upon one side of the frame may be pivoted the piece c having a side projection, e, thereon, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and the rear end of the barrel B may have a recess, b, therein, so that when the piece c is turned upon its pivot up into a verticalv position the side projection c enters the recess b and secures the rear end ot' the barrel to the frame A. I do not, however, consider this fastening device as any important part of my invention, for there are many equivalent methods of securing the frame A up in place at the rear of the cylinder, any one of which may be used, and any convenient snap or catch device may be employed instead of that shown in the drawing.

The operation of myinvention is as follows: The rear part of the frame A is unlocked from the rear end of the barrel, and is turned to one side upon the joint al, so that the recoil-plate shown at o is turned away from the rear end I of the cylinder, when the cartridges may be inserted into the chambers. The part A is then turned back again, bringing the recoilplate o back into its position at the rear of the cylinder, and the part A is locked to the barrel. After thc arm is discharged the part A of the frame is again unlocked from the barrel and turned to one side, and the part Al of the frame turned upon the hinge-joint C, and away from the cylinder, which moves the extractor backward and forces the empty shells out at the rear end of the chambers of the cylinder. As the part A is moved back to its position close to the cylinder, the extractor is thereby carried forward again to its position in the cylinder, and the rear partis turned up to its place in rear of the cylinder and locked to the rear of the barrel, as before.

By making the frame in two parts, A and A', and connecting them together at c1 by a pivoted or swinging joint, I am enabled to turn the recoil-plate o away from the rear of the cylinder to insert the cartridges while the extractor is in its most forward position in the cylinder, or for any other purpose, even after the cartridges are inserted; and in accomplishing this object I am enabled to dispense with any spring arrangement for carrying the extractor back into its forward position in the cylinder after having been moved out, and am enabled to expose the rear end of the cylinder for any purpose whatever without moving the extractor, while, by moving the parts A and A downward and away from the cylinder, I am also enabled to bring a positive force to bear upon the extractor, both in forcing it backward to extract the shells and in moving it forward again to its position in the cylinder; and these are the ojects sought and attained by the invention.

Instead of turning the rear part A of the frame away from the rear of the cylinder by a side movement, it may be found preferable to unite the two parts A and Al by a joint so constructed that the recoil-plate o may swing directly backward to expose the rear end of the cylinder, as the direction in which the recoil-plate is moved away from the cylinder is not at all an essential point, so long as the rear end of the cylinder is suiciently exposed without operating the extractor.

It may be found, also, that in practice the toothed piece b may be made in one piece with the lower part A of the frame with advantage as to expense and labor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The two parts A and A', hinged or jointed together, whereby the recoil-plate 0 may be turned away from the rear of the cylinder, iu combination with the joint C, provided with the toot-hed piece l and the extractor m, substantially as set forth.

DANIEL B. Wasson. 

